Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law disallowing teachers to suspend students for defiant behaviors.
SACRAMENTO, California — California's elementary and middle school students won't be suspended for things like falling asleep in class or talking back to the teacher under a bill signed by the state's governor.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday he had signed a law banning public and charter school officials from suspending students for "willful defiance," a broad category that includes disrupting class or willfully defying teachers.
California banned these types of suspensions for students up to third grade beginning in 2015. The law Newsom signed permanently bans these suspensions for grades four and five and temporarily restricts them for grades six through eight until 2025.
"We want the teacher to be able to teach their class and not have disruptive students, but we also want to minimize these suspensions," said bill author Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat from Berkeley. "The more a child is suspended, the more likely they are to do bad in school and just do bad overall."
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LaShanya Breazell saw just how detrimental suspension can be. Her son LaVontae was suspended from Oak Park Prep three times while he was a seventh grader. She said her son was once suspended for an altercation between himself and another student during a basketball game even though LaVontae's classmates said he wasn't the aggressor. The other student was not suspended, according to Breazell.
"Every time there was an issue he would either be sent home, suspended, or sent out of the classroom," Breazell said. "It battered down his morale. He would ask me why he was out of school. His grades were horrible. He wasn’t able to keep up with the lessons."
Breazell said LaVontae was also sent out of the classroom for trivial things like asking too many questions or not having a pencil.
"I lost count of how many times he was sent home or out of the classroom. It was very frustrating and stressful," she said.
Eventually, Breazell transferred her son to another school where she learned that LaVontae needed smaller classroom sizes and more one-on-one attention from teachers.
The new law takes effect July 1 of next year. Teachers can still remove students from the classroom for willful defiance, but they could not be suspended.
"We have to make sure the term willful defiance is defined in a way that everybody understands what it means," Breazell said.
When California banned willful suspensions up to third grade, suspensions fell by 30,000 in the first year. Since 2011, suspensions for willful defiance have dropped 82%, according to a legislative analysis of the proposal.
But data from the California Department of Education shows a disparity in who is getting suspended. Black students, while accounting for 5.6 percent of enrollment, made up 15.6 percent of all willful defiance suspensions in the 2017-18 school year. White students accounted for 20.2 percent of willful defiance suspensions while making up 23.2 percent of enrollment.
Breazell said she believes the suspension rate for black children will decrease once the law is implemented.
"I guarantee you that the suspension level will fall and more of our babies will be graduating like they are supposed to, like they are entitled to," she said.
As for LaVontae, he will be graduating next year from Sava Charter.
Lawmakers and school officials have been debating the issue for some time. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar bills twice, once in 2012 and again last year, writing in a veto message: "Teachers and principals are on the front lines educating our children and are in the best position to make decisions about order and discipline in the classroom."
Officials with the California Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC) have shown concern over the passage of the bill.
Executive Director Eric Premack says while the CSDC are generally supportive of policies that reduce unnecessary suspensions and expulsions but says the issue is not one size fits all.
"Some charter schools, however, serve high-risk populations and/or offer unique programs and services where strong disciplinary practices are vital to student and staff safety," Premack said. "These include, but are not limited to schools where students regularly use dangerous tools (e.g., chain saws, axes, etc.), operate heavy equipment, drive trucks, etc."
Premack said while SB 419 is well-intended, he argues that it imposes a “one-size-fits all” disciplinary standards that are not a fit for all schools in all circ*mstances.
This year, Skinner noted groups like the Association of California School Administrators supported the bill.
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FAQs
The California State Senate approved "SB 419" by a vote of 30-8. This bill bans schools from suspending children for defying teachers and administrators.
What is section 49079 of the California education code? ›
Section 49079 - Teacher informed that pupil engaged in certain acts (a) A school district shall inform the teacher of each pupil who has engaged in, or is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, any of the acts described in any of the subdivisions, except subdivision (h), of Section 48900 or in Section 48900.2, ...
What is Section 48910 of the California Education Code? ›
Section 48910 - Suspension of pupil from class by teacher (a) A teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, for the day of the suspension and the day following.
What is the suspension policy for schools in California? ›
A suspension is a temporary removal from school. A student CANNOT be suspended from more than 5 consecutive school days. A student CANNOT be suspended for more than 20 total school days in any given school year.
Do you think getting suspended teaches a student not to misbehave again? ›
Some studies have found that non-misbehaving students' outcomes improve when their misbehaving peers are removed. However, if suspensions do not improve the behavior of suspended students over the long run, this benefit to the learning environment could be short-lived.
What is Section 47614 of the California education Code? ›
Section 47614. 47614. (a) The intent of the people in amending Section 47614 is that public school facilities should be shared fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools.
What is Section 44809 in California education code? ›
(a) A state school register shall be kept by every teacher in the public elementary schools, except a teacher in: (1) A school in which the state school register of each teacher is kept on behalf of the teacher in a central office by an employee of the school district.
What is Section 47612 of the California education Code? ›
To remain eligible for generating charter school apportionments, a pupil over 19 years of age shall be continuously enrolled in public school and make satisfactory progress towards award of a high school diploma.
What is Section 8483 of the California education Code? ›
(a)(1)(A)(i) Every after school component of a program established pursuant to this article shall commence immediately upon the conclusion of the regular schoolday, and operate a minimum of 15 hours per week, and at least until 6 p.m. on every regular schoolday.
What is Section 51500 of the California education Code? ›
51500. A teacher shall not give instruction and a school district shall not sponsor any activity that promotes a discriminatory bias on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, nationality, or sexual orientation, or because of a characteristic listed in Section 220.
EDUCATION CODE, SECTION 48900:
A student who has committed the following acts is subject to discipline by suspension or expulsion: (a)(1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person. (a)(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another, except in self-defense.
What is the education code 48915 in California? ›
ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY NOTIFICATION – California Education Code #48915(c) Expulsion must be recommended for the following behaviors: 1) Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm. (2) Brandishing a knife at another person.
Is school suspension a punishment? ›
Punishment by Exclusion
Suspensions are an exclusionary practice that removes or excludes a student from the educational setting. Proponents say that such exclusion makes classroom management easier for teachers and creates a better learning environment.
How do you fight out of school suspension? ›
Typically you must request an appeal of the school's suspension or expulsion decision in writing within a few days of your conference with the principal. Each school district has its own procedures, which will be explained to you when you receive written notification of the outcome of the conference.
Why do school suspensions not work? ›
It's largely accepted that discipline that takes students out of the classroom can lead to long-term problems for them. Studies find that students suspended from school are more likely to fall behind academically, repeat grades, or even drop out of school.
Does getting suspended affect your future? ›
Students who get suspended frequently are less likely to pass classes and state assessments, and this may also impact graduation rates.
What is Section 49077 of the California education Code? ›
49077. (a) Information concerning a pupil shall be furnished in compliance with a court order or a lawfully issued subpoena.
What is Section 49407 of the California education Code? ›
Notwithstanding any provision of any law, no school district, officer of any school district, school principal, physician, or hospital treating any child enrolled in any school in any district shall be held liable for the reasonable treatment of a child without the consent of a parent or guardian of the child when the ...
What is Section 49073 of the California education Code? ›
Any school district may limit or deny the release of specific categories of directory information to any public or private nonprofit organization based upon a determination of the best interests of pupils. (b) Directory information may be released according to local policy as to any pupil or former pupil.
What is Section 48907 of the California education Code? ›
Under California Education Code Section 48907, students may not engage in speech that is obscene, libelous, or slanderous. Speech that is false (not a matter of opinion) and exposes a person to hatred, contempt or ridicule is unprotected.
